1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for an automatic stocking turning machine which is able, without manual intervention, to separate completely turned stockings from ones which have only been partially turned.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Automatic stocking turning machines are known in which the stockings, after turning, are discharged downward and conducted over an oblique chute to the inlet opening of an ejector tube. Within said tube, the stockings are conveyed by a jet of air to the outlet opening of the tube, which opens in downward direction and is located above a collecting container into which the stockings fall after the turning.
Such stocking turning machines, one of which is described and shown by way of example in the applicant's Italian Patent Application No. 67 993 A/89 (WO 91/07540), operate relatively precisely and efficiently. Nevertheless, it can at times happen that a small and generally negligible number of stockings are turned only partially rather than completely, so that, at the outlet of the stocking turning machine, a section of the welt of the stocking still lies over the preceding section. It is therefore necessary carefully to observe the stockings arriving at the outlet of the stocking turning machine in order, in the event of an error, to effect manually the complete turning of the few stockings (generally less than 2% of the total number) which have not been completely turned in the stocking turning machine. This operation is absolutely necessary in order to make certain that incompletely turned stockings do not enter the following processing stations at which, in the event of the use of uncolored yarns, coloring is effected and/or the stockings are ironed before they are packed.
This problem is of importance, in particular, in the case of large production quantities (for example, on the order of magnitude of a few dozen million stockings a year), since then, even in the event of small percentages of incompletely turned stockings, the amount of additional manual work is great, which considerably increases the cost of production.